Sausage help

[Yukon Cornelius]

Last year I attempted to make about 10 lbs of sausage with some bear meat...it wasn't that good. I know my first mistake was that I didn't use enough seasoning (msg scared me off) and the meat was very gamey tasting, though the roasts and steaks weren't at all.

This year I would like to give it a go again with moose and/or bear. What seasonings should I look into getting? Should I just send the meat in with the wife when she heads to town in October? I'd like to have some summer sausage, possibly links, and breakfast sausage. I'd assume I'd need casings of some kind. I do not have a smoker. I'll be using the oven or dehydrater.

You could also recommend a good sausage maker in anchorage that is fairly fast or that could make sausage I wouldn't need to refrigerate. That would be great.

[dkwarthog]

Make your own. It is super easy. Buy the spices in bulk and mix them yourself. There was a recipe on here that Vince was using that we found to be really good, but we had to double the amount of seasoning per pound of meat.

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...Sausage+recipe

some good spices for sausage are sage, coriander, fennel, garlic, pepper, etal. Also, you can use pork fat or cheap bacon, we have found for sausage, that we like to have about 10% or so fat.

we made some burger this year that had dill, sage, Montreal steak seasoning, wine and A1 sauce that turned out terrific. You can use a coffee grinder to grind up the spices. mix it with water or wine so that it is easier to mix into the meat. We added about 25% beef fat which is high,but most of it runs into the grill and it keeps it from getting dried out when cooking. Don't give up and don't buy the store spices with all the MSG and other crap in it....good luck

[Bullelkklr]

Any time that you are making sausage that you won't be cooking it needs to be cured. I use prague #1. It is a mixture of sodium and sodium nitrite. 96ish percent sodium. If you do not have a smoker you can use powder smoke (I much prefer it to liquid smoke) and that will almost duplicate the smoker qualities.

For summer sausage or brats, you need to have upwards of 30% pork/fat mix IMO. I buy pork shoulders and mix that in with sometimes beef tallow. I do have some reservations about using store bought beef/pork that is not near as organic as the wild meat we harvest, but it simply makes it taste better so I continue with the practice.

Unless you are a person who can pay very close attention to detail, I would recommend against using cultures for your summer sausages.; however, using some of the fillers definitely will help with texture etc. Always, Always keep a log of what you did for future reference.

I have found the box store pack mixes to be very simple and they turn out very good for pepperoni stix, beer stix, and jerky. Definitely worth a try to see if you like doing it. Making cured sausages takes a lot of work. The breakfast sausage and brat patties take much less time and equipment.

If you are not going to be refrigerating your sausages you should investigate dry cured sausages. I have not tried this type of sausage. The www is your friend. There is a lot of information out there on the process.

I have used butcherpacker dot com for purchase of my cheeses and spices and casings and equipment with good results. Even Cabelas is now carrying all of the equipment and materials for the home sausage maker to be successful.

[Bullelkklr]

I should clarify the first sentence above. 99 percent of the time you have to bring your sausage up to 160-165 degrees. You can do that by boiling in water or using your oven. When I referred to "cooking" it meant breakfast sausage and bratworst type sausages that you fry in a pan prior to eating. There are some sausages that you dry cure for weeks that you don't have to cook or bring to temp, but I have no experience in making them.

[Bullelkklr]

Also - no fat or pork or beef in your jerky. Mix it and use your dehydrator - works great either ground or not.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Also - no fat or pork or beef in your jerky. Mix it and use your dehydrator - works great either ground or not.

I got the jerky down. It's the sausage I am working on. fat might be my problem. Only fat I get is what comes off the animal.


Thanks guys for the info. I've started the searches from google.

[dkwarthog]

I should have clarified, we only make bulk sausage and burger. No casings, no curing, everything gets vacuum packed and froze.

We experimented with using moose fat to make sausage and didnt care for it near as much as using pork and beef fat. We try not to use anything other than just straight spices, no msg, no sodium nitrates, etc.

[Yukon Cornelius]

I should have clarified, we only make bulk sausage and burger. No casings, no curing, everything gets vacuum packed and froze.

We experimented with using moose fat to make sausage and didnt care for it near as much as using pork and beef fat. We try not to use anything other than just straight spices, no msg, no sodium nitrates, etc.

This is what I tried last year using the fat from the bear to add to the meat. THis is when I hate living in the bush...when I need something that costs an arm and leg to get to me

I could totally have the wife bring back the fat when she heads to town in OCtober...but then we'd have to skip on the veggies

[Bullelkklr]

I have not tried it with bear fat. I shot a black bear a few years ago that had 5 inches of gorgeous white fat on the rump and back. I discarded it, but have since been told it makes the best lard after rendering.

I am wondering what would happen if you first rendered it, then added it back into the sausage mix. That might help with the gamey-ness later on.

If you are using bear, you really have to bring the temp up to make sure that you don't get sick.

Really though - the key to a good summer sausage and even breakfast sausage is having enough fat in the mix.

There must be a way to get it done with the animal fat as sausage making is a pretty old endeavor. Maybe the old fellas didn't mind a bit of a gamey flavor - they were probably just happy to have something to eat.

[Anythingalaska]

I use 20% pork fat when I make venison sausage. I'm making breakfast sausage, so really you just need sage, salt, and sugar and then whatever other spices you decide you want to add. Always turns out good. I've found it's good not to skimp on the sage.

I use this simple recipe as a base, and then modify it as I see fit.

http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/ven...t-sausage.html

[dkwarthog]

Although there are obviously advantages to having 20 or 30 % fat in your sausage, one of the advantages of making your own is that you can make it leaner and not be consuming so much fat. It all depends how you plan to cook it.

[Yukon Cornelius]

dkwarthog...you an A-10 pilot?

I agree with your lean meat assessment. One reason I want to make my own is a health issue. I was diagnosed as type II three years ago, and being raised on breakfast meats in the south...old habits are hard to break.

I fry my sausage in the pan over low/med heat. I then do my eggs or potatoes. It is my weekend comfort meals. Occasionally I'll make gravy from the drippings.

I do want to experiment with the summer sausages/sticks/etc...type

I will more than likely only be making sausage if I am lucky enough to get a bear. I use the moose for all my dried meat. Great gift.

[Anythingalaska]

Although there are obviously advantages to having 20 or 30 % fat in your sausage, one of the advantages of making your own is that you can make it leaner and not be consuming so much fat. It all depends how you plan to cook it.

Agreed. However as far as pan frying/broiling breakfast sausages; the 20% fat helps keep the meat moist and juicy. Any less than that and it gets dry and less palatable. For a lot of richness in a sausage, fat is nearly essential.

[dkwarthog]

dkwarthog...you an A-10 pilot?

ha, no, I wish! Just a washed up retired dog musher, with a passed on lead dog named Warthog. Yea, I didn't think too hard when selecting a username

Anythingalaska, you are right. The fat is nice to have when cooking. We usually brown the sausage then cook potatoes and onions in a little bit of olive oil before mixing them all together and adding eggs. When it comes to cooking, I'm a one trick pony, but the kids seem to like it...

[Yukon Cornelius]

ha, no, I wish! Just a washed up retired dog musher, with a passed on lead dog named Warthog. Yea, I didn't think too hard when selecting a username

Anythingalaska, you are right. The fat is nice to have when cooking. We usually brown the sausage then cook potatoes and onions in a little bit of olive oil before mixing them all together and adding eggs. When it comes to cooking, I'm a one trick pony, but the kids seem to like it...

I have yet to see a dog team in action. The Iditarod hits every village in my district but mine.

I used to cook ok my potatoes and sausage separately. Now I cook them all at same time. I do cut my taters up into small cubes so they cook a little faster.